Electric pressing iron with user interface

ABSTRACT

An interface for an iron has a graphic display indicating the current temperature selection, user controls for adjusting the current temperature selection, and a ready indicator adapted to indicate when the iron is at the currently selected temperature.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Invention

This disclosure relates to an apparatus for presenting a user interface to the user of a steam iron.

2. Description of the Related Art

It is known in the art of steam irons to provide some indication to the user of the temperature of the iron soleplate. Such indicators are of an analog nature, usually mechanical, such as is described in Risacher, G., U.S. Pat. No. 3,488,873, for a FABRIC CONDITIONING DEVICE, issued Jan. 13, 1970.

It is also known to provide a lamp to indicate when the soleplate has reached temperature, such as is described in Greco, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,120, for an ELECTRIC PRESSING IRON HAVING INDICATING READY LIGHT WITH IMPROVED SWITCH MEANS, issued Apr. 14, 1981.

With the advent of modern electronics, it is desirable to provide to the user an interface that permits selection of the iron operating temperature and an indicator as to when the soleplate is at the proper temperature for the fabric to be ironed with a degree of precision unobtainable with conventional electromechanical means.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A user interface for an iron includes a graphic display indicating the current temperature selection, user controls for adjusting the current temperature selection, and a ready indicator adapted to indicate when the iron is at the currently selected temperature.

An iron having a soleplate heated by a heating element includes a temperature sensor disposed to measure the temperature of the soleplate, a graphic display indicating the current temperature selection, user controls for adjusting the current temperature selection, and a ready indicator adapted to indicate when the soleplate is at the currently selected temperature.

In another aspect of the invention, the graphic display is located on a forward portion of an iron handle so that it is not blocked or covered by a user's fingers or hand during use.

The invention further includes a microcontroller in electronic communication with a temperature sensor, a display, user controls and a ready indicator. The microcontroller is programmed to control the ready indicator to indicate when the soleplate is at the currently selected temperature.

In another aspect of the invention, two or more components in electronic communication with the microcontroller are multiplexed.

In another aspect of the invention, the ready indicator is a dual-color light emitting diode and is adapted to also indicate when the soleplate is or is not at the currently selected temperature.

In another aspect of the invention, the ready indicator is a dual-color light emitting diode (LED) and wherein the microcontroller is programmed to control the ready indicator to indicate when the soleplate is in a first state of being at the currently selected temperature or in a second state of not being at the currently selected temperature by controlling the dual-color LED to emit at different colors for the fist state and the second state.

The invention further includes a soleplate heated by a heating element, a temperature sensor disposed to measure the temperature of the soleplate, user controls for adjusting the current temperature selection to any of a quantized set of temperature settings; and a ready indicator adapted to indicate when the soleplate is at the currently selected temperature.

In another aspect of the invention, the display shows to the user the names of a quantized set of fabric materials, each material corresponding to a temperature setting.

In another aspect of the invention, the quantized set of fabric materials is synthetic, silk, wool, cotton, and linen.

In another aspect of the invention, a pair of material selector buttons allows a user to scroll either up or down a list of materials to quickly choose the material and corresponding temperature for ironing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the user interface of the invention.

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b depict a flowchart of an embodiment of the operation of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of a power supply for the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown an iron 1 having a handle 2, the forward portion of which has a user interface for operating the iron. The user interface has a pair of temperature adjusting buttons 6, 7 within easy reach of the user's thumb. Other controls 3 may also be provided as is known in the art, such as pump push bottons for selecting water or steam to be sprayed upon the item to be ironed.

A graphic display 9, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), is provided in front of the pump push buttons 3 to indicate to the user the currently selected temperature setting with an indicating graphic 4, in this case by surrounding the currently selected temperature setting by a rectangle as shown in the drawing, though any suitable graphic may be utilized. A power indicator lamp 8 and a ready indicator lamp 10 are also provided. The user interface, including buttons 6, 7, controls 3, power indicator 8, display 9 and ready indicator 10 are all located forwardly of handle 2 so that they are not blocked in use by a user's fingers or hand during ironing. That is, the interface is located forwardly of the user grip portion of the handle.

In operation, upon startup the indicated temperature setting is OFF. When the user presses the UP temperature adjusting button 6, the rectangle graphic 4 moves or scrolls up to the next temperature setting (e.g., SYN, meaning synthetic). As shown, it is preferable to use the names of materials to be ironed rather than actual temperatures, so as to make use of the device friendly to the user. The result is that the available temperature range is quantized to a fixed set of available temperatures corresponding to a fixed set of fabric materials.

As shown in the drawings, a preferred set of fabric materials is synthetic, silk, wool, cotton, and linen. Every press of the UP temperature adjusting button 6 causes the rectangle graphic 4 to move up to the next temperature setting until the highest setting is reached. Conversely, every press of the DOWN temperature adjusting button 7 causes the rectangle graphic 4 to decrement or scroll downwardly. In this way, the user is able to adjust the temperature of the iron's soleplate 5 quickly and easily without scrolling through the entire list.

When the user first selects a temperature setting, the device checks to see if the soleplate 5 is already at that temperature. If not, the temperature indicating lamp 10 glows a first color, preferably red, to indicate that the proper temperature has not been reached. When the soleplate heats up or cools down to the selected temperature, the ready indicator lamp 10 changes to a second color, preferably green, to indicate to the user that the iron 1 is ready for use. A two-color LED may be used for this purpose.

It is also preferable that one or more beeps from a speaker also be sounded to indicate to the user that the iron 1 is ready for use because it is unlikely that the user will wait around for the iron 1 to reach temperature. Of course, rather than utilizing a two-color lamp, one may substitute a pair of lamps or even do without any lamps and simply provide an additional graphic on the LCD graphic display 9 to indicate the temperature is appropriate and ready for ironing.

It is also preferred that the iron 1 shut itself off after a period of inactivity. In a preferred embodiment, the power indicator lamp 8 is caused to flash when an “auto-shutoff” occurs. Likewise, one may substitute an additional graphics on the graphic display 9 to indicate power and auto-shutoff. In addition it is also desirable to have a sonic indicator, such as for example by causing the speaker to beep at ten or twenty second intervals.

Referring to FIGS. 2 a and 2 b there is shown an embodiment of a process that may be used to effect the workings of the invention. The process may be effected by a microprocessor and embodied in a machine readable code stored upon a tangible medium such as is known in the art of microcomputer architecture. Alternatively, the process may be effected by hardware, or by a combination of microprocessing and hardware.

Beginning at node 20, the user turns the iron 1 on and the process flows to node 21 where the user interface is initialized by turning the graphic display 9 and the power indicator 8 on, shutting the ready indicator 10 off, and setting the currently selected temperature to “OFF,” meaning that no power is being delivered to the soleplate's heating elements.

Upon the user pressing the UP and DOWN temperature adjusting buttons 6, 7 at node 22, control flows to node 23 where the currently selected temperature is adjusted accordingly and displayed on the graphic display 9. Power is applied to the soleplate and control flows to node 24 and loops through node 25, thereby causing the ready indicator 10 to glow red until the soleplate reaches the currently selected temperature.

When the soleplate reaches the currently selected temperature, control flows to node 26 wherein the ready indicator glows green and speaker is beeped twice. Controls flows through node A to the flowchart of FIG. 2 b.

Optionally, at node 30, the procedure checks to see if the iron has been inactive for a predetermined period of time, such as thirty seconds, for example. This is achieved with a motion sensor. If so, there is a danger that the material being ironed will scorch. Control would then flow to node 31 where the power to the soleplate 5 is shut off, the power indicator 8 set to flash, and the speaker set to beep at ten second intervals. This would continue until the procedure detects at node 32 that the user has again moved the iron, in which case control flows to node 33 wherein the soleplate 5 is turned on again and the power indicator 8 glows steady.

Control now flows to nodes 34, 35, and 36, wherein the process again sets the ready indicator 10 to glow red until the currently selected temperature is reached. When the currently selected temperature is reached, the ready indicator glows green and control flows back to node 30.

If no inactivity is indicated, control flows to node 38 to detect a temperature adjustment. If the user has adjusted the temperature up or down (other than to the OFF setting), control flows to node 40 where the currently selected temperature is set to the new value and displayed on the graphic display 9. Control then flows through nodes 41, 42, and 43 wherein the ready indicator glows red until the currently selected temperature is reached, at which point control flows back to node 36.

If the user did not select a different temperature, control flows to node 39 to determine if the user has selected the OFF setting. If not, control flows back to node 30. If so, control flows through node B back to FIG. 2 a.

Referring again to FIG. 2 a, control flows in through node B into node 28 wherein the LCD display is set to indicate OFF and power is cut off to the soleplate. At node 29, the ready indicator lamp is shut off and the procedure terminates until the user sets another temperature.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a preferred embodiment for the electrical circuit of the invention. A major problem with introducing a user interface into the handle of a steam iron is space constraints. Consider that the handle of the average steam iron is narrower than a cell phone. By utilizing multiplexing, as does this circuit, it is possible to pack a great deal of utility into a small space. To perform multiplexing, it is desirable to utilize a microcontroller that is capable of both writing and reading data on the same pin. It is also desirable that the microcontroller have built-in analog-to-digital (A/D) converter capabilities and phase-width-modulation (PWM) capabilities. There are a number of such microcontrollers on the market, such as the PIC16C712 8-bit CMOS microcontroller sold by Microchip Technology, Inc. of Chandler, Ariz. The workings and internal architecture of the PIC16C712 are described in Microchip Technology's datasheet designated DS41106, entitled PIC16C712/716, 8-Bit CMOS Microcontrollers with A/D Converter and Capture/Compare/PWM, published 1999, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

The basic components of the multiplexed circuit of FIG. 3 are the microcontroller 15, a temperature sensor 11, a speaker 12, a motion sensor 16, the temperature adjusting buttons 6, 7, the graphic display 9, the power indicator 8, and the ready indicator 10. The microcontroller 15 is driven by a 4 MHz clock X1.

The ready indicator 10 is a dual-color LED, preferably red and green. In this case, the red element of the ready indicator, designated “R” in the schematic shares pins 2 and 3 of the microcontroller 15 with the power indicator 8. Likewise, the green element of the ready indicator, designated “G” shares pin 18 of the microcontroller with the motion sensor 16. The temperature adjusting buttons 6, 7 and the motion sensor 16 share pins 11, 10, and 8, respectively, of the microcontroller 15 with the LCD graphic display 9.

By sharing microcontroller pins in this fashion, a number of components may be operated using a minimal amount of space. By way of rapid multiplexing, it is possible to give the appearance to the user that all these components are operating independently. For example, consider the case where the user has made a selection and is waiting for the iron to reach temperature. In this case, the power indicator 8 should be glowing steadily and the ready indicator 10 should be glowing red. To do this, pin 2 is set high to 5 volts so as to supply power to the anodes of the power-indicator 8 and to the red element of the ready indicator 10 through resistors R15 and R13, respectively. Pin 3 is rapidly switched between high and low. When pin 3 is high, the power indicator 8 shuts off and the red element of the ready indicator 10 turns on (because transistor Q1 is activated). When pin 3 is low, the power indicator 8 turns on and the red element of the ready indicator 10 shuts off. By alternating pin 3 fast enough, the illusion is created to the user that both the power indicator 8 and the ready indicator 10 are glowing steadily simultaneously.

When the iron has reached temperature, the power indicator 8 should glow steadily and the ready indicator 10 should glow green. To do this, pin 2 of the microcontroller is set high and pin 3 is set low so as to turn on the power indicator 8 and shut off the red element of the ready indicator 10. Pin 18 is set high so as to provide power to the green element of the ready indicator 10 through resistor R14. Both pin 2 and pin 3 are rapidly switched between high and low. When pin 2 is low and pin 3 is high, both the power indicator and the red element of the ready indicator 10 are shut off, while the green element of the ready indicator 10 is turned on.

The microcontroller periodically monitors the motion sensor 16 to ensure the user hasn't walked away and forgotten to shut off the iron. Hence, pins 18 and 8 of the microcontroller 15 are continuously and rapidly switching between output and input mode so as to poll the motion detector 16. Polling the motion detector causes the green element of the ready indicator 10 to shut off. In addition, pins 11 and 12 are also continuously switched between input and output mode so as to poll the temperature adjusting buttons 6, 7. The result is that the graphic display 9 goes blank, but this occurs so rapidly that the illusion is created to the user that the power indicator 8 and the green element of the ready indicator 10 are glowing steadily, the graphic display 9 is always functioning without so much as a flicker, the motion sensor is always standing watch, and the temperature adjusting buttons 6, 7 are always ready to be pressed. The result of this multiplexing scheme is that a power indicator 8, a dual-color LED 10, a motion detector 16, a pair of switches 6, 7 and a liquid crystal graphic display 9 may all be operated apparently simultaneously with only eight microcontroller pins.

Note that the temperature adjusting buttons 6, 7 are provided with buffer resistors, R15 and R17 to prevent the signal to the LCD from being quashed during operation of the graphic display 9. The temperature adjusting buttons 6, 7 will generally be normally-open momentary type switches. Snap-action type switches are preferred.

As to the other components, the speaker 12 is connected to pin 9 of the PC16C712. Pin 9 provides pulse width modulation output (PWM) from the microcontroller's internal capture/compare/PWM (CCP) module. This allows the speaker to be driven at a wide range of frequencies as desired. The temperature sensor 11 output is analog and is therefore fed into both pins 17 and pin 1, both of which pins have analog-to-digital capabilities. In the schematic as shown, the temperature sensor 11 has a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) meaning the analog output voltage decreases with increasing soleplate temperature. Such temperature sensors are generally preferred because of their greater accuracy over positive temperature coefficient (PTC) temperature sensors. The raw analog signal is fed into pin 17, while pin 1 receives the analog signal through R11, a 1% precision resistor. A low-pass filter formed by R10 and C4 suppresses any AC noise.

FIG. 4 shows a power supply that may be used with the invention. Note that the circuitry depicted here links with that of FIG. 3 through the junction J1. From left to right in the drawing, AC power 50 is brought in across varistor V1, which acts to protect the circuit from surges. One AC line 51 connects directly to the heating element 56 while the other line is trifurcated, a first branch 52 leading to the heating element 56 through a relay 55, the second branch 53 filtered through C7, R25, and R26 to the bridge rectifier formed by diodes D5, D6, D7, and D8. The output from the bridge rectifier is clamped down to 12 volts by Zener diode ZD1 and the output smoothed out with electrolytic capacitor C8. This provides a 12 volt DC power supply. This 12 volt DC source is divided down by resistors R29 and R28, clamped to 5 volts by Zener diode ZD2, and smoothed out by electrolytic capacitor C9. This provides the 5 volt DC power supply.

The third branch 54 runs through resistor R30 and goes back to FIG. 3 through pin 4 of the junction J1. Referring back to FIG. 3, it can be seen that this signal is divided down and filtered by resistor R19 and capacitor C6. Diodes D3 and D4 clamp the signal to within 5 volts. The signal is then fed into pin 7 of the microcontroller for use as an external timer signal.

The output of pin 6 of the microcontroller is used to turn the power to the heating element 56 on and off. The pin 6 output runs through resistor R12 and to pin 3 of the junction J1. Referring back to FIG. 4, it can be seen that this signal then runs through line 57 to transistor Q2 through resistor R31. By bringing this line high and activating the transistor Q2, the relay 50 is thereby closed to provide power to the heating element 56.

While various values, scalar and otherwise, may be disclosed herein, it is to be understood that these are not exact values, but rather to be interpreted as “about” such values, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Further, the use of a modifier such as “about” or “approximately” in this specification with respect to any value is not to imply that the absence of such a modifier with respect to another value indicated the latter to be exact.

Changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art to the embodiments as disclosed herein and such examples, illustrations, and theories are for explanatory purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. Further, the abstract of this disclosure is provided for the sole purpose of complying with the rules requiring an abstract so as to allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the disclosures contained herein and is submitted with the express understanding that it will not be used to interpret or to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims. 

1. A user interface for an iron, comprising: an electronic graphic display indicating a current temperature selection; user controls for adjusting the current temperature selection; and a ready indicator adapted to indicate when the iron is at the currently selected temperature.
 2. The user interface of claim 1 wherein the graphic display is a liquid crystal display.
 3. An iron, comprising: a soleplate heated by a heating element; a temperature sensor disposed to measure the temperature of the soleplate; an electronic graphic display indicating a current temperature selection; user controls for adjusting the current temperature selection; and a ready indicator adapted to indicate when the soleplate is at the currently selected temperature.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the graphic display is a liquid crystal display.
 5. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising: a motion sensor; and a power indicator adapted to indicate that power to the heating element has been shut off after the motion detector detects no movement of the iron for a preselected period of time.
 6. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising: a microcontroller in electronic communication with the temperature sensor, the graphic display, the user controls and the ready indicator; and wherein the microcontroller is programmed to control the ready indicator to indicate when the soleplate is at the currently selected temperature.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the graphic display is a liquid crystal display.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising: a motion detector in electronic communication with the microcontroller; and wherein the microcontroller is programmed to shut off the heating element after the motion detector detects no movement of the iron for a preselected period of time.
 9. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising a power indicator in electronic communication with the microcontroller and wherein the microcontroller is programmed to indicate with the power indicator that the heating element is shut off after the motion detector detects no movement of the iron for a preselected period of time.
 10. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein two or more components in electronic communication with the microcontroller are multiplexed.
 11. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the ready indicator is a dual-color light emitting diode and is adapted to also indicate when the soleplate is or is not at the currently selected temperature.
 12. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the ready indicator is a dual-color light emitting diode (LED) and wherein the microcontroller is programmed to control the ready indicator to indicate when the soleplate is in a first state of being at the currently selected temperature or in a second state of not being at the currently selected temperature by controlling the dual-color LED to emit at different colors for the fist state and the second state.
 13. An iron, comprising: a soleplate heated by a heating element; a temperature sensor disposed to measure the temperature of the soleplate; user controls for adjusting the current temperature selection to any of a quantized set of temperature settings; and a ready indicator adapted to indicate when the soleplate is at the currently selected temperature.
 14. The iron of claim 13 further comprising a display showing the currently selected temperature.
 15. The iron of claim 14 wherein the display shows to the user the names of a quantized set of fabric materials, each material corresponding to a temperature setting.
 16. The iron of claim 15 wherein the quantized set of fabric materials is synthetic, silk, wool, cotton, and linen.
 17. A user interface for an iron, comprising: user controls for selecting an ironing temperature; and a ready indicator for indicating when an iron has reached said ironing temperature, said indicator comprising a color changing lamp.
 18. The interface of claim 17, wherein said color changing lamp comprises a light emitting diode.
 19. An iron, comprising: a handle having a grip portion; and a user interface mounted on the handle forwardly of the grip portion.
 20. The iron of claim 19, wherein the user interface comprises a graphic display.
 21. The iron of claim 20, further comprising a spray push button located forwardly of the handle, and forwardly of the graphic display.
 22. The iron of claim 20, wherein the graphic display corresponds to a temparature selected by a user.
 23. A user interface for an iron, comprising: an electronic graphic display indicating a current temperature selection; and user controls for adjusting the current temperature selection, said user controls comprising a first selector for scrolling upwardly through a list of temperature selections and a second selector for scrolling downwardly through said list of temperature selections.
 24. The user interface of claim 23, wherein said temperature selections are identified as a list of fabrics corresponding to said list of temperature selections. 